Kadirga Festival — is one of the most famous festivals in Turkey. The Kadyrga Plateau with an amazing mountain landscape where the festival is held is located 25 kilometers from the city of Tonya, Trabzon province.
Residents of areas adjacent to the plateau gather on the plateau in the third week of July and spend three days in noisy fun.
Some of the festival events involve ancient rituals that have survived to this day: for example, enmity is forgotten and hostilities for the conquest of territory that arose between communities living in the Kadyrga region cease.
Every year thousands of people, representatives of various ethnic groups, come to the festival to celebrate and dance all day long to the alluring sounds of a drum, kemanchi and pipe. Interestingly, Turkish folk instruments play a symbolic role: for example, the pipe is popularly called the shepherd's horn, and since ancient times people have known the belief that with the help of the pipe the shepherd collects and grazes the herd.
It is also symbolic that the Kadyrga festival marks the annual summer movements to high-mountain pastures.
The festival program also includes many other events in which not only local residents, but also tourists can take part. Thus, various concerts of Turkish performers, national dances and fun take place here. And, of course, all participants and guests of the festival can get acquainted with the culinary traditions and customs of the Turkish people.